Get Inspired by Frosting?

Nothing inspirational about sugar, trans fat, and food dyes

“Grab a starter. Select a flavor. Get inspired.” That’s how Duncan Hines entices shoppers to try its new Frosting Creations.

The company must have been searching for an exciting new way to sell its frosting. After all, another tub of sugar, partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oils, corn syrup, corn starch, and artificial flavor and color is kind of a snore.

Well, Duncan Hines says, snore no more. You can light a fire under your frosting experience by dumping the contents of the Flavor Mix packet into the Frosting Starter tub. Choose from more than a dozen flavors, like Strawberry Shortcake, Bubble Gum, or Cotton Candy. Each has 10 calories from sugar plus natural and artificial flavors and food dyes like Red 40, Yellow 5, and Blue 2. Some food dyes can make ADHD worse in some children and may slightly increase the risk of cancer. How exhilarating!

Then you get to stir the flavor into the starter frosting yourself. How inspiring to watch a tub of sugar and partially hydrogenated oil (dyed white) turn cotton-candy blue.

Each two-tablespoon serving of Frosting Creations adds 130 calories and four teaspoons of sugar to the calories (from sugar, fat, and white flour) that are already in your cake. Bonus: because Duncan is still using partially hydrogenated oil, you get—in addition to the two grams of saturated fat in each serving—two grams of trans fat (a day’s worth).

“So moist. So delicious. And so much more.” That’s Duncan’s motto.

So much more indeed.

Want to tell Duncan Hines what you think about Frosting Creations? Call customer service at (800) 362-9834.

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Notice: Content at this site is not intended to provide medical advice, which should be obtained from a qualified health professional. Any products evaluated or sources cited may contain information that is now outdated. Readers should check product labels to ensure any nutrient content has not changed since our review and still meets the criteria established by NutritionAction.com.